In Simple Words
Think of a nightclub guest list kept privately at the door rather than printed on a flyer distributed across the entire city. Keeping the list private ensures only pre-screened guests can enter, preventing an overwhelming crowd from filling the entrance.
Small and medium firms in France
- No proactive agency outreach
- 0.053 private vacancies per firm
- Proactive agency outreach
- 57% more private vacancies
Trial outcome: permanent vacancies per firm hidden from public internet access. Visibility itself was not randomized; an application-volume mechanism is not separately established.
See source →Research question
Publicly listed job postings attract high volumes of unsolicited, unqualified applications that overwhelm firm Human Resources departments with screening labor.
Participants
N = 7,438 establishments across 129 local public employment agencies in France.
Study Design
Stratified Randomized Controlled Trial measuring vacancy service delivery and online posting visibility.
Results
Treatment increased the proportion of vacancies made private (restricted from public online access) by 57% off the control mean, directly reducing unvetted jobseeker applications.
Takeaway
Convert public online job postings into private agency-administered listings to restrict applicant inflows and eliminate unvetted application volume.
Source and citation
See source →Read alongside the research
Plain-English glossary
Original explanations, informed by the references below. Examples are illustrations, not data from the studies above. The research text stays unchanged.
- Randomized controlled trial
A study that uses chance, like drawing lots, to decide who receives each option being compared. Researchers compare the groups’ outcomes to estimate the effect of those options.
ExampleA lottery assigns volunteers to a training programme or a comparison group. Researchers then compare their outcomes.
GET-IT glossary · Randomized study ↗Read more about randomized controlled trial →